


Run Away

by oly_chic



Series: Prowl x Jazz Community 2020 Annual Challenge [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Murder, Gangs, Secret Identity, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oly_chic/pseuds/oly_chic
Summary: Prowl's undercover assignment goes astray, but someone wants to believe he's not alone. Too bad Meister isn't privy to the truth.
Series: Prowl x Jazz Community 2020 Annual Challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929142
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37
Collections: ProwlxJazz Anniversary 2020





	Run Away

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own Transformers.
> 
> This is for the P/J 2020 challenge from the Dreamwidth community. Prompts are taken from a bingo card row.
> 
> Prompt: “Secret Identity”
> 
> Prowl’s undercover look is based on Siege Barricade, but without the cop markings.
> 
> Meister/Jazz is silver but I refuse to call it Bayverse!Jazz because that’s too sad.

The ground was dusty in the old indigo-colored building, but Prowl sat down as instructed by the class organizer. He was surrounded by other inductees, ready for his instructor to arrive and teach him how to thieve.

The purple, black, and gold Prowl did his best to blend in with the other worn looking mechs, although some had chipped paint while his was a little fresher than he’d like. It couldn’t be helped, as his undercover assignment to infiltrate the gang was quickly put together and he couldn’t very well have classic Enforcer colors.

“Attention!” the organizer called.

Prowl snapped to attention and watched the far archway for the instructor walking into the room. What he expected was a mech only slightly better looking than the other students, but instead a silvery mech with a sapphire blue visor sauntered into the room like he owned it. He smiled and Prowl immediately felt a disarming calmness come over him. He chided himself for being so easily influenced by someone probably bad.

“Hey ya, my mechs,” the teacher greet with a musical voice. “I’m Meister and I’ll be your instructor. I’ll spare catching you up on all the details of how you got here, but just know it’s probably the same for you as anyone else. Now that you’re starting as a thief, it’s time to teach you how to do it. Let’s get names and history with thieving.”

Prowl had gotten into the low-level rank of thief through a criminal the Enforcers squeezed. It was a good starting position for him, as it was his third undercover assignment and the last two were as a thief, too. The biggest difference is this was set to be his biggest and longest undercover assignment yet, where he needed to work his way closer to the top.

When Meister looked at him, Prowl pressed his lips. “I’m Barricade and I stole back in Kaon before coming here.”

Meister nodded. “Great, but you’ll find targets in Iacon are different than targets in Kaon.”

“No doubt.”

A brief smile flashed across his face at Prowl’s dry tone, but he said nothing more to Prowl. Instead, he continued on to the next student.

After all students had done a short introduction it was time to practice stealing. The first sets of tasks were sparkling play to Prowl, tasks focused on stealing without triggering a single trap or bell on their practice target. He faked some struggle but improved by the end so he seemed worthy of advancing.

Prowl wasn’t sure if it worked until Meister approached him after class. “That’s some fine skill you have,” Meister complimented with a grin.

“Thank you, it’s a bit like Kaon but different. Like you said.”

“Yeah, but it’s still a great start. Almost too great for this class. How’d Kaon teach you these skills?”

Prowl forced his vents to continue normally and hid his sudden worry. Was he doing too well? “I was in another gang that handled a wide variety of targets.”

“Another gang? Do we need to worry about turf issues with you? What kind of targets?”

“No, I got out clean when I moved. Targets like drug addicts and business mechs.” He was slightly going off script because his fabricated background only said he was a relocating member from a gang recently cut in half by the Enforcers in Kaon. Hopefully, that was as far as off script as needed.

“Good, good,” Meister nodded. “Here doesn’t have so much of a druggie problem, but plenty of business mechs and richer. What’s the richest mech you’ve stolen from?”

“The Chief of Enforcers,” Prowl answered before realization and horror set. That was actually true because when he was young he was in a dangerous predicament that forced him into stealing from the local Chief. He nearly succeeded but what ended up being more important was how he impressed the Chief by almost escaping with key investigation documents. Eventually everything righted itself out and he was promised a career in undercover Enforcement if he stayed clean.

Meister laughed, the sound cheerful in Prowl’s audios. “No way! Please, oh please tell me the story.”

“Well…” Prowl did his best modifying the truth to sound like he was a gang youth stealing in Kaon. His story started quick but Meister kept asking questions and Prowl was making things up the more he was asked. He was nervous of the new life he was cultivating by blending truth with lies.

In the end, Meister had the largest grin while chuckling. “Okay, okay. Someone like you needs better than this. What do you think of private lessons? There isn’t a class for already starting with skill and style.”

“Style?” Prowl said, even though his mind was more focused on private lessons. No one had told him he had style.

“Yeah, style! Stealing from a Chief like that takes some serious style. So, what do you say?”

“That would be great,” Prowl said with a faint smile, worried and eager for the risk and opportunity to work so closely to someone like Meister.

“Awesome, see you tomorrow.”

* * *

His lesson was hard, because not only was there complex puzzles but also self-defense tied into the puzzles in case a theft turned violent. He wasn’t too upset about it, though, even as he continually found himself fighting the rising heat of his system when Meister came in close to correct his form. Prowl was doing his best to not show his Enforcer training, and so Meister was using an up-close-and-personal method of teaching fighting moves not always seen in Enforcer academy.

Meister had one hand on Prowl’s collar while the other was holding onto his elbow. “I want you to step forward as I step back. Ready?”

Prowl stepped forward and Meister stepped back and suddenly the world blurred as Prowl felt himself kicked in the abdomen while flying overhead. He landed on his back and his sensory panels sang.

He groaned and rolled up into a sitting position to better look at Meister. “What did you do?”

Meister was on his back and looking up at Prowl, a smirk visible. He got up and helped Prowl stand. “It’s a type of sacrifice throw. Didn’t hurt you too bad, did I?”

“Not too bad,” Prowl lied.

His teacher studied him. “Wiggle those panels.”

“What?”

“You’re holding those sensory panels a little funny. Wiggle them and if they wiggle fine, then we’ll continue with me showing you the breakdown.”

Prowl thought about trying, but from the throbbing pain and Meister’s apparent optic for injuries, he opted to not bother. “I don’t believe I can in a way that’ll convince you well enough.”

“Uh-huh. That’s what I thought. Let me…” Meister walked behind him, and Prowl tensed up.

The pain immediately began to ease as he felt magnets being applied to his joints. “What are you doing?”

Meister answered, “Can’t very well massage them, I know what happens when you do that to these kinds of panels. But I’m betting those joints hurt from the landing so some magnet treatment is probably good.”

“Yes, thank you,” he groaned more than he meant. Luckily, Meister said nothing. Prowl wondered if this was the beginning of a friendship, but then he felt bad. How could he be friends with someone when he was continuously lying? Despite that, he also knew he had to act the role of friendship to sell his cover. This used to be so easy, but he had never known any criminal like Meister.

* * *

_(A Vorn Later)_

Prowl rubbed the tip of his ped into the ground as he waited a few paces away from a door, trying to minimize signs of his nervousness. This was it, this was the big meeting to be interviewed for a bigger role in the gang, in a manner of speaking. If he aced it then he would become a leader in the theft ring, putting him on par with Meister. The feeling of being equal to his private teacher was a strange one, and he opted not focusing on it. Things had been good between the two of them lately, but Prowl moving up meant they would no longer see each other, as Meister was a leader over new recruits and Prowl would lead those past the recruitment stage.

“A little nervous, hmm?”

He turned his helm and looked to see Meister approaching from the side. “Meister?”

“You know it, the one and only,” Meister grinned.

“What are you doing here?”

“What, didn’t think I’d come support my best student?”

A rare smile bloomed on Prowl’s face and his optics darted away for a klik before settling back on Meister. “I appreciate the support.”

“Of course!” Meister moved within reach. “Barricade, I know moving up is scary, but it’s the best thing that happens here. You never know, you could become even my boss one orn!”

Prowl’s smile shrank at the reminder he was known as “Barricade.” His plan was to get that high in the gang, to be a mid-level leader so that he’d have information fed to him from those up high. Poor Meister would be swept up in the Enforcer’s cleaning when the time came for Prowl to blow the whistle. “You never know.”

“Exactly,” Meister said with a sudden friendly shoulder squeeze, one of the occasional touches from Meister. Normally Prowl shied away from contact but he didn’t mind Meister’s. It was for the good of his role, or so he kept telling himself.

For the good of the role he reached up and gave Meister’s hand on his shoulder a soft squeeze. “You are kind to think so well of me.”

For some reason Meister drew a few circles with his thumb on Prowl’s shoulder before slowly lowering his hand. “It’s deserved, and then some.”

He wasn’t sure what to say to that, but he didn’t have to because the door opened and revealed a servant. The servant indicated it was time for Prowl to come inside the room.

Suddenly, a hand was holding his and Prowl looked down to see Meister squeezing his hand. He looked to Meister in wordless wonder.

Meister smiled. “Go get them, you got this.”

Prowl smiled again, feeling his tanks flutter before softly squeezing back and letting go. He walked into the room, feeling both nervous and confident.

* * *

_(Half Vorn Later)_

The low-acidic rain pinged off his engeron-stained and damaged armor, slightly burning him but he didn’t care. His wounds burned the worse, but they were barely a distraction.

Prowl ran as fast as he could, running without paying much attention to his whereabouts. Whatever direction looked safe enough to save his life from what just happened is where he went. Memories of the scene and attack tried haunting him but he fought back, focusing on what dark and bumpy images his optics could see.

Without warning his world fell as his ped collided with something hard, and he spilled onto the sidewalk. The landing hurt, and he tried getting back up to keep running but the injuries from the fall slowed him down. Fearing his imminent demise, he looked around to scope out any dangers. He didn’t see any immediate threats, but as he looked he noticed an apartment sign that was oddly familiar. Prowl quickly traced back through his memories where he’d seen it, and realized he’d seen it once when he met up with Meister. He was in Meister’s neighborhood, maybe even at his apartment complex.

“Are you okay?”

Prowl groaned as he turned to see who was behind him and vaguely recognized the mech as a friend of Meister’s. He searched for a name of the mech under a large umbrella. “I’ll be okay, High Roll.”

“You don’t look okay,” High Roll skeptically replied. He approached him closer and must have finally seen the energon splatters across Prowl’s frame, based on his widening optics. “What happened? Do I need to get Meister?”

“No! Don’t drag him into this,” Prowl pleaded. In no way did he want Meister’s life in any danger.

“But you don’t look good, and you’re sitting in acid rain. Come on, let’s get out of here and find you some help.”

“But – ”

He didn’t get any further in his protests before High Roll reached down and gently tugged the hurting Prowl up until he was mostly standing. His left knee hurt. “Come on,” High Roll encouraged as his hand slid up Prowl’s arm. His touch landed on a superficial wound on Prowl, and the touch triggered fear in Prowl.

Wordlessly he jerked back, the fear of what had happened returning in full force and Prowl fled, running away from High Roll’s calls. However, this time he managed to regain enough control of his fear to run in a direction he knew.

The tunnels under the crystal gardens were empty, the dim lighting showing no bodies around him. He slowed to a halt and collapsed. His wounds had finally stopped bleeding, based on the system energon readings in his HUD. Most of the energon splatter across his frame wasn’t his, but some wounds weren’t as superficial as others.

He was almost in involuntary recharge from running and finally feeling safe when he heard someone almost silently approach. Thinking it was his would-be-killer, Prowl’s limbs shot out in an uncoordinated attack against whoever was there.

“Whoa, whoa!” Hands blocked his clumsy attack.

The voice was familiar and immediately calmed his fear. His attack slowed until his limbs grew heavy and dropped. Prowl's optics focused on who was in front of him. “Meister?”

“Yeah, hey, what’s going on?” Meister soothingly asked. He was knelt down by Prowl and well within Prowl’s personal space.

Prowl looked around, afraid that if Meister could find him without originally intending to look for him, then so could his attacker. “I must go.”

Tentative hands reached out and hovered over Prowl’s more serious wounds on both arms. “Barricade, no. You need to tell me what’s happening and I need to patch you up. High Roll called me and said he saw you looking worse for wear. I’d say he undersold your situation.” Meister’s hand pulled a first aid kit out from behind him.

“I need to go,” Prowl insisted, although his heavy limbs struggled to coordinate any real movement. “If you can find me, then he can find me.”

“Who’s he?” Meister asked as he gently caught one arm and began applying patches.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen him before.” Prowl couldn’t stop looking around, paying Meister little attention, although in the back of his mind he was relieved to feel Meister’s soft touches.

“Who?” Meister repeated.

Prowl chewed his lip. If he could tell anyone, it would be Meister. “My attacker, or my attempted murderer.”

Meister’s visor flickered and his frame froze for a klik, but he recovered. “Going to really need a detailed account of what happened.”

Prowl swallowed and calmed himself, even resetting his vocalizer when he felt a hitch before he could speak. “I was called by one of my charges to come deal with a theft in danger of going wrong. When I got there… it was a massacre. He was dead, the security guards were dead, even bystanders were dead.” He shuddered. He’d seen dead mechs before, but nothing this messy.

He continued, “I was stunned, and I almost didn’t see it. I barely moved in time for his blade to pierce only my arm instead of my chassis. It was terrifying, the way he attacked. Like he wanted me dead – no, like he _needed_ me dead.” Prowl shuddered again and fell silent.

Meister didn’t say anything for several long kliks, but he didn’t pause in ministering first aid to Prowl’s injuries. Finally he spoke as he wrapped the last bandage around Prowl’s leg. “Sounds like a set up. Know who’d do that?”

“No, I haven’t got a clue who would be that upset with me.” He hadn’t had time to think about the why, but now that it was in his helm, his immediate fear was that he’d been found out. That his cover had been blown and someone had orchestrated the attack to secretly get rid of him.

Meister looked into Prowl’s optics. “Barricade, come here,” he quietly said as he tugged Prowl into his arms. Meister cradled Prowl and in an atypical fashion for Prowl, he allowed himself to curl into it.

His friend spoke. “We’ll get through this. I’ll help you find who did this.”

Prowl curled up more into Meister’s arms, but this time out of the cold comfort and fear of what would happen. If it was a setup to get rid of Prowl the undercover cop, and not a setup against Barricade the thief, then any snooping efforts by Meister would reveal the truth.

Should Prowl reveal the truth now to Meister and hope for the best? No, he couldn’t. Meister would probably not forgive him and this comfort Meister offered Prowl’s cover wouldn’t be extended to him. Prowl laid his helm on Meister’s shoulder. He didn’t want that; he didn’t want to be without Meister’s touch.

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not finish this in a sequel. Depends on my writing energy later on. I’ve got my bingo fics, my multiple on-goings, and one other multi-chapter fic I’m writing that I want to finish drafting before I begin posting


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